Technology Trends in the Classroom

Is There an App for That?

I attended a technology conference this summer and was excited to see what was “buzz-y” and new in our field. I wasn’t disappointed; there are folks out there doing amazing things with technology – from augmented reality (Aurasma, What Was There, and Layar) to using images and video to teach literacy skills and increase student engagement to connecting and creating with others across the globe. The buzz words don’t seem to have changed much – everyone is discussing (and sometimes debating) the flipped classroom, design thinking, and content curation, among other topics. I left the conference with my head full of questions and ideas to ponder, as well as some practical suggestions and new tools to try out.

As good as the conference was, I noted a disturbing trend. Apps. We all know that apps can be amazing – most of us use them in our everyday life as well as in our teaching. So, what’s the problem? There were too many sessions that were simply lists and very short descriptions of recommended apps. I attended a 60 minute session where the presenter described 37 apps – in addition to introducing himself and leaving time for questions at the end of the session. If my calculation is correct (even without the introduction and questions) that leaves a bit over a minute and a half per app. What insights could the presenter possibly give us in that time? Now, before I’m too critical of the presenter, and he wasn’t the only one, his session was very well organized and presented quality apps – but there were just too many and were presented without critique or qualifying statements.

In my own practice, I try to look at few (emphasis on few) websites that I respect – and these are not sites that only discuss apps. They are about teaching and learning. Two that I frequently visit are Edutopia from The George Lucus Educational Foundation and Mind/Shift, a blog from KQED (public television in San Francisco) concerning the future of learning. Also, remember to look at professional journals. I read Social Education from NCSS (I’m a history teacher at heart) – each issue has a section dedicated to technology integration. In addition, there’s the technology journal from ISTE, Learning and Leading with Technology, which always has great ideas for the classroom. As our students access, curate, create, evaluate and collaborate, they can apply and critique some great apps you’ve shared with them this fall.